Companies Targeting Next Gen Consumers for New Apps

By Rob Scott
July 13, 2012

Companies such as Fisher-Price, LeapFrog, Hasbro and Crayola are developing apps for very young consumers — including babies as young as six months of age.
At the Fisher-Price lab, for example, “we bring babies in with their moms and watch them at play with different types of apps, different types of products,” explains Deborah Weber, senior manager of infant research.
Weber says her job is to “understand the ages and stages of babies — what they can and can’t do, what their interests are, and the growing needs of families today.”
“Two years ago, it was harder to find kids who had used an iPhone or an iPad at home,” suggests Alissa McLean, a senior researcher in LeapFrog’s user experience group. “Now it’s not hard at all.”
“We used to talk about kids being the first generation of digital natives,” adds Jason Root, chief content officer at the Ruckus Media Group, which has partnered with companies like Hasbro to develop storybook apps. “Now we have a generation of newborns who are going to be weaned on touch devices.”
Innovations in this market are fueling a digital toy trend. “In the last year, there have been nearly three million downloads of Fisher-Price’s Laugh & Learn apps,” reports The New York Times. “By year-end, LeapFrog expects to have 325 apps at its online App Center, double the number at the end of 2011.”

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